Numbers don't show Williams' worth

DETROIT -- Wide receiver Roy Williams may be the Detroit Lions' best offensive player, but it won't necessarily be reflected in his statistics from week to week.

Williams had just 20 yards on four catches in last week's season-opening win against the Oakland Raiders. That included a 13-yard touchdown reception, which came on a broken play -- further indication that opponents are making strides to limit Williams' ability.

As a result, Lions quarterback Jon Kitna spread the ball around, with eight different receivers catching passes against Oakland.

When asked if defenses have to pick their poison against Detroit's group of talented receivers, Kitna made one thing clear.

"In theory, that sounds great, but our best player is No. 11," he said, referring to Williams' jersey number. "That's our best player and we're going to try to get him the football. If you do something that doesn't allow us to give him the football, we'll go to somebody else. But No. 11 is our best football player and we want to give him as many balls as possible in a football game."

The Raiders didn't let that happen.

"That's because they chose to take him out of the football game," Kitna said.

"But that's the great thing about what (the Lions) have done for this team talent-wise.

"Now, we have more options to choose from."

Kicker Jason Hanson, who is in his club-record 16th season with the Lions, said he won't predict how much longer he will play.

"I've taken it one year at a time," he said. "I'm afraid to say 'I'll play this long' because as soon as I do that, I'll probably be done."

Hanson, 37, made all three of his field-goal attempts against Oakland, including a pair of 46-yarders from the infield dirt at McAfee Coliseum.

"I feel like I can still do what I've always done," Hanson said.

The Lions didn't score any defensive touchdowns against the Raiders, but an interception and a forced fumble by defensive tackle Dewayne White in the final 3:08 sealed Detroit's win.

"Coach (Marinelli) showed us a statistic that all the teams that won (during Week 1) had a plus turnover ratio. If we get a plus turnover ratio, we're going to win more games," White said.

Marinelli has continued to preach the virtues of mid-week practice preparation and how it separates teams -- and players -- from each other.

"Teams that win in the NFL prepare very well. All your preparation during the week should make game day, which is test day, easy and fun," Marinelli said. "If you've prepared very well and you know what you're going to get and you're exact on what you're doing and how you're doing things, then the game day should be fun. When it's cloudy, that's when it's not fun. That's when guys are confused. We want to eliminate any doubt, any confusion and allow these guys to play with speed and be physical."